by Vanessa Dennis
You’ve got the degree, a glowing recommendation from the boss at your internship, and an impressive portfolio that you’re eager to show off. Now what?
With over 50,000 job boards, a million career experts spewing advice on Twitter, and hundreds of corporate career sites floating around the web, you might be confused about where and how to start one of the hardest tasks you’ll ever tackle: the role of a job seeker. AfterCollege has compiled ten resources that are essential for your job search. When combined, they’ll pack a one-two punch.
1) Job boards. Sometimes it seems like there are more job boards than actual jobs, but exploring numerous job sites can be helpful for several reasons. If you’re looking for a very specialized career, there are plenty of niche boards chock full of relevant jobs that can provide excellent referrals and tips on specific career paths. AfterCollege is an example of a niche job board because it focuses on college recruiting and connecting employers with recent grads. When you become a member of a job board, you can upload your resume into a database that lets employers search for you even when you’re not applying for jobs. Plus you can sign up for email alerts that notify you when a job matching your profile is posted so you can be the first to apply.
2) Your local newspaper. With so many career resources crowding the Internet, the newspaper may seem like an unlikely contender for best career resource. But in reality, the paper is rich in critical information about the local market, which can give you a great advantage in this competitive landscape. Try picking up a paper every Sunday and reading the business section to determine which companies are expanding and possibly looking to hire. Your paper may also list recent hires or promotions in a special section, a sure sign that a company is recruiting.
3) Google. Google is taking over the world, right? It’s a scary thought. But in the meantime, get on the Google train. A recruiting tactic that companies have spent a lot of money on recently is something called SEO, or search engine optimization. When you search for something like ‘nursing jobs’ on Google instead of a job board, keep in mind that companies pay SEO experts and/or Google to get their jobs to rank high in search results for those keywords. It’s a somewhat complicated, lengthy process that is being lauded lately because it drives lots of job seekers to their career sites. So when you search for jobs, know that it’s no accident that a certain company keeps popping up. They’re looking for you.
4) Payscale. Do we work for fun? Sometimes, but mainly we work for money. And it’s important to know how much you should be asking for when interviewing. Payscale is a great resource because it utilizes the give-to-get model. After you dump your own salary data into their huge database, you get a detailed report about what you can ask for, what your peers are making, and what kind of career path you should continue along to make the big bucks you really want. Plus, because Payscale has partnerships with search engines, your job query will often bring up useful compensation data.
5) Glassdoor. This is a uniquely fun, provocative site to visit because it offers a transparent look into the guts of a company. Along with salaries, Glassdoor also encourages anonymous users to post reviews of the company they work(ed) for, which makes for some interesting, albeit controversial dialogue. CEOs, compensation, and corporate culture are discussed for almost 32,000 companies. Interview questions and tips are also posted by real participants, so take good notes.
To be continued…check out next week’s post for the rest of our tips!
